Two New Works of Robert
Southey
Kenneth Curry
A professional author such as Robert Southey, who made his living
by his pen, was frequently tempted to write for the sole purpose of
financial gain, and more than once he did a pamphlet or book with
only the briefest mention in his correspondence. It is, therefore,
likely that some of his works may have escaped notice when there
has been no reference to the work in his published correspondence,
and when, in addition, he did not put his name upon the
title-page.
In preparing an edition of Southey's unpublished correspondence,
I have found allusions to two works of his not mentioned elsewhere:
an edition of Don J. Ignatius Molina's The Geographical,
Natural, and Civil History of Chili, London, 1809; and An
Exposure of the Misrepresentations and Calumnies in Mr Marsh's
Review of Sir George Barlow, London, 1813. To neither work can
any claim for literary greatness be made, but as each represents an
addition to the corpus of Southey's works a brief description of
them is in order.
The Molina was a sheer bit of editorial routine undertaken at
the request of Longman. On 10 August 1809 Southey wrote his uncle,
the Reverend Herbert Hill:
Molina is translated by an American and printed in America.
Longman sent it to me to know if it should be reprinted here, and
I added the two Appendices and a few notes.
Again on 31 August 1809 he wrote to his uncle:
What I have done to Molina has been very little. I have only the
first volume in the original and have seen none of the
translations, which however the American translator, whoever he be,
seems diligently to have examined. It seemed a proper place for
abstracts from Agueros and Falkner, and accordingly there I placed
them, with a few stray notes thro the volumes.
An investigation of the Molina volumes bears out the implication
in Southey's remarks that his work was perfunctory, but as he was
always conscientious in whatever he undertook, he drew upon his
extensive knowledge of South American history and provided an
annotation from those authorities likely to prove illuminating. The
English edition is a reprint of the translation printed at
Middletown, Connecticut, for I. Ripley, in 1808, and attributed to
"An American Gentleman," who actually was Richard Alsop
(1761-1815), a resident of Middletown and one of the Hartford
Wits.[1] To the English edition
Southey contributed the following note (p. viii):
In addition to what is said above, the English Editor has to
state, that he has, from documents in his possession, added a few
occasional Notes, which are distinguished by the letters
E.E. He has also subjoined, from Falkner's Description of
Patagonia, a further elucidation of the language of the Auracanos;
and two Appendixes, the first containing an Account of the
Archipelago of Chiloe, from the Descripcion Historial of that
Province, by P. F. Pedro Gonzales de Agueros, printed at Madrid, in
1791; and the second, an Account of the Native Tribes who inhabit
the Southern Extremity of South America, extracted chiefly from
Falkner's Work.
Notes so signed will be found on the following pages: Volume I, 31,
34, 37, 38, 66, 69, 99, 103, 116, 150, 151, 156, 158, 160, 191,
201, 226, 268, 273, 311, 313; Volume II, 26, 84, 85, 177, 217, 260,
275. The two appendices will be found in Volume II, 367-374,
375-385.
The bibliographical description of these volumes is as follows
(copies at Yale, the Library of Congress, the London Library, and
the British Museum; the copy with the half-title is in my own
possession):
THE | GEOGRAPHICAL, | NATURAL, AND CIVIL | HISTORY
OF CHILI. |
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN OF | THE ABBE
DON J. IGNATIUS
MOLINA. | [double rule] | TO WHICH ARE
ADDED, | NOTES
| FROM THE SPANISH AND FRENCH VERSIONS, | AND | TWO
APPENDIXES, |
BY THE ENGLISH EDITOR; | THE FIRST, AN
ACCOUNT OF THE
ARCHIPELAGO OF CHILOE, FROM THE | DESCRIPCION
HISTORIAL OF
P.F.PEDRO GONZALEZ DE AGUEROS; | THE SECOND, AN
ACCOUNT OF THE
NATIVE TRIBES WHO INHABIT THE | SOUTHERN EXTREMITY OF
SOUTH
AMERICA, EXTRACTED CHIEFLY | FROM FALKNER'S
DESCRIPTION OF
PATAGONIA. | [double rule] | IN TWO
VOLUMES. |
[double rule] | VOL. I [II] | [rule] |
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, | PATERNOSTER-ROW. |
[rule]
| 1809.
Volume I: pp. xx + 324, [a]2 b8,
B-U8 X8 Y2. The
first four leaves of each gathering are signed. Half-title: THE |
HISTORY OF CHILI. | VOL. I. A map of Chili is inserted opposite the
title-page.
Volume II: pp. xii + 388, a6,
B-U8 X-Z,8 Aa-Bb8
Cc.2 As a3 is signed and there is only one leaf preceding
it, I
have assumed the presence of a1 (a half-title to correspond with
that of the first volume). Both volumes have advertisements at the
end. Pages 322-324 of Volume I consist of advertisements, p. 323
continuing one from p. 322. In Volume II, pp. 386-388 are likewise
advertisements.
The Barlow pamphlet is a more important piece of work. Southey's
uncle, the Reverend Herbert Hill, the rector of Streatham, was a
neighbor of the Barlow family, whom Southey had met upon his visits
to the Hills. Sir George Hilaro Barlow, Bart. (1762-1847), soon
after his appointment as governor-general of India in 1807 had been
forced to put down a mutiny. Many of the cashiered officers on
their return to England wrote pamphlets against the Barlow
administration; he was recalled in 1812, Lord Minto was sent in his
place, and the peerage which the King had been willing to grant
Barlow was withheld. Charles Marsh's pamphlet, Review of Some
Important Passages in the late Administration of Sir G. H. Barlow,
Bart. at Madras (London, 1813), had particularly disturbed the
Barlows, and it was against what they felt were Marsh's calumnies
that they wished to vindicate Sir George's name. Through the
mediation of Southey's uncle, it may be understood, his aid was
sought. A long letter
of Southey's to Mr Hill (21 May 1813) discusses the whole matter.
You know what I have written upon the Madras disturbances. The
Carnatic Debts are not touched upon in that chapter. I had however
gone thro all the papers concerning them which were laid before
Parliament. My opinion was as much in favour of Sir G[eorge].
B[arlow]. in them as to the beginning of the business, as it was in
the rebellion at the end. But in the progress I thought he acted in
more than one instance, oppressively. You will believe me when I
say that I should have been heartily glad to have thought him right
throughout.
If however Marsh's book applies chiefly to the Carnatic Debts,
there is no reason why I should decline to answer him upon that
point: and upon the general question the necessity of suppressing
the rebellious spirit of the army, and the vigour with which it was
done, too much cannot be said in praise of the Government of
Madras. I have therefore no other feeling of repugnance at
undertaking this task than that it makes me feel, for the first
time in my life, like one whose talents are for sale, and who write
not because he has information to communicate, amusement to offer
or opinions to enforce, but wholly and solely because he is paid
for writing. In this there is something humiliating. But a feeling
of pride ought not to stand in the way, if there be no stronger
reason.
I know Marsh, and if we were Bedouin Arabs he would have a right
to expect my protection, for he once ate bread and cheese and drank
porter at some lodgings which I was occupying for a week in London.
He came uninvited and unwelcome as well, and Wm Taylor in whose
company he introduced himself would fain have been excused from
bringing him, for Marsh is a worthless fellow. He was then going to
India, and was not without fear of being shipt in a different
direction, for among many dishonesties he had committed one which
brought him within reach of the law, and I believe he had recourse
to some shifts and stratagems to get safely on board.
Let me see the plan which is sketched out, that I may chew the
cud upon it. The business of course must be kept secret, and if it
will not occupy much time, it had better be done at Streatham,
where any alterations may be made as soon as they are suggested,
and no time lost in a distant correspondence.
On July 18th Southey added a few details in writing to his uncle:
The nature of the reply seems to be clearly chalked out, and my
thorough knowledge of the character of the man who is to be
answered gives me no little advantage. If you think my personal
appearance at Streatham is not necessary, send me Marsh's book and
the other documents. . . . Believe me I should be heartily glad to
find reason for believing that Sir G. B. was as right in every part
of his conduct as he was in the great points of dispute. Be this as
it may, I shall know how to take the strong ground and to read
Marsh a lecture upon subordination.
A few notes on the foregoing passages are necessary. Southey's
phrase "what I have written upon the Madras disturbances" refers to
his discussion of the very
problem in the
Edinburgh Annual Register, III, part I,
260-281 (Chapter 8), and his treatment of the matter there was so
much in accord with what he was to say in the pamphlet that he
needed to feel no qualms of conscience concerning the partisan
stand he must take. A full, modern account of the troubles at
Madras—and a defence of Barlow's action—will be found in
Sir
Alexander Cardew's
The White Mutiny (London,
1929).
Southey's pamphlet quotes at great length from Marsh's work and
answers his charges one by one. The composition is plainly
Southey's—written in the straightforward, unaffected prose of his
biographies, letters, and Quarterly Review articles. Marsh's
pamphlet had been published after the matter was thought to be
concluded, and Southey accuses Marsh of trying to reopen an old
issue. Marsh's career is cited to his disadvantage, and the
testimony of Lord Minto (Barlow's successor) is quoted in Barlow's
favor.
Very occasionally the reader will find an idea that is
especially characteristic of Southey but that has no particular
connection with the controversy. Southey's opinion of the price
paid by the Anglo-Indian for his fortune may serve as an
illustration:
The British adventurer in India pays a dear price for the
fortune of which he goes in search; he leaves his parents and his
friends, and the companions of his youth; time passes on; they for
whose sake he has eagerly looked on to the hour of his return, drop
off; and in that state of mind which arises from remembrance, and
sorrow, and hope delayed, he repines at his lot, and perhaps
silently acknowledges that no accumulation of wealth can be an
adequate recompence for the sacrifice of the best years of his
life, and the best affections of the heart. (p. 15)
The bibliographical description of the pamphlet is as follows:
AN | EXPOSURE | OF THE | MISREPRESENTATIONS | AND
| CALUMNIES |
IN | MR. MARSH'S REVIEW | OF | SIR GEORGE
BARLOW'S |
ADMINISTRATION AT | MADRAS, | BY | THE RELATIVES OF SIR
GEORGE
BARLOW. | [double rule] | LONDON: |
SOLD BY BLACK,
PARRY, AND CO. LEADENHALL STREET; | JOHN MURRAY, 50,
ALBEMARLE
STREET; AND | EDMUND LLOYD, HARLEY STREET. | Printed by
E.
Blackader, Took's Court, Chancery Lane, London. | [single
rule] | 1813.
Pages ii + 130. P. 129 contains a list of Errata, and 130 a page
of advertisements. [A]1 B-I8 [K]1. The first two leaves of
each
gathering are signed.
Copies are in the John Crerar Library in Chicago, the London
Library, and in the British Museum. The Museum copy is bound in a
volume with the title,
Miscellanea by Robert Southey, but
there is no note in the volume to indicate why the attribution was
made. The other works of Southey in the volume are the complete set
of the
Flagellant, an edition of
Wat Tyler, and
his
Letter to William Smith. The British Museum and London
Library copies contain the leaf of errata and advertisements
missing from the John Crerar copy.
Notes
